11/10/2005 - San Antonio Business Journal City approves loan package to redevelop Friedrich building

The long-awaited redevelopment of the former Friedrich Air Conditioning Co. building on San Antonio's East Side has moved one step closer to reality.
City Council approved a $9 million Section 108 loan package from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Developer Eugene Simor and the city are now awaiting final approval from HUD in order for construction to begin.
The project consists of rehabilitating the exterior of the Friedrich building, razing 70,000 square feet of space to create a new courtyard and building 80,000 square feet of new commercial space. The project also will include residential lofts.
The old Friedrich building is located at 1617 E. Commerce, just east of downtown. It sits on 6.2 acres of property.
San Antonio City Councilwoman Sheila McNeil praised the project and said it will be one of the flagships of development for the city's East Side.
"Due to the size of the building, its redevelopment will help to develop a community," McNeil says. "I have worked on this project since the inception as a council aide to former Councilman Mario Salas; the Friedrich project went from being a dream with approximately 20 people from the community participating in small group discussions, to a living, breathing piece of history."
In addition to the Section 108 HUD loan, the project already is slated to receive $6.3 million in new market tax credits and another $1.5 million from the Brownfield Economic Development Grant program to build out the infrastructure of the building.

09/15/2005 -San
Antonio Express-News Lofty redo of old plant back on track

Friedrich Lofts, an East Side urban revitalization
project, will soon clear another hurdle with City
Council's anticipated approval of a rezoning request.
Developer G. Eugene Simor has been planning for
a mixed-use project with residential lofts above
space renovated for office and retail. Along with
Dallas partner John Miller, the two have been working
on the project since acquiring the site six years
ago.
To date, they've leased 15,000 square feet of renovated
office space to creative-professional small businesses.
The city Zoning Commission last week approved a
change from historically significant general industrial
district to historically significant infill development
district.
The change provides the developers the flexibility
to proceed with the intended residential-commercial
concept.
"It's been a long time in the making,"
Simor said. "I don't want to jump the gun by
saying it's 100 percent for sure, but it looks to
be on track. I hope to start actual construction
the first quarter of next year."
Simor's success with converting part of the former
Friedrich Air Conditioning Co. plant to office use
was viewed as a pioneering step in efforts to turn
around the East Commerce Street corridor. But his
grander plans had stalled until now.
The Urban Land Institute recently praised the site
as a good example of how to use tax-credit programs
to bring back blighted commercial districts. Friedrich
Lofts Ltd. is applying for a U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development loan similar to one
KellyUSA used to provide a building for Boeing Co.
"Our residential component is going to be privately
financed," Simor said. "The commercial
component is the HUD loan."
Private financing is contingent on the city's approving
the HUD loan. If that comes through, Simor is confident
the project will finally be completed.
The first phase would mean redevelopment of 130,000
square feet, of which 30,000 square feet would be
for 20 residential lofts. A second phase would bring
to market another 80 residential lofts.
All of the façade work would be done in the
first phase to give the multistory building a new
look. The developers are finalizing the architectural
design.
The commercial uses would build on the complex's
reputation as a haven for creative professionals,
Simor said. He is looking to attract more Web designers,
interior designers, architects and other professionals
who want loft-style space.
On the Commerce Street side, there may be some limited
general retail uses, such as a restaurant and an
independent insurance office. BACK
TO LIST

05/20/05 - San Antonio Business Journal
Friedrich building given national spotlight in ULI
report

A recent conference presented here
by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) put a redevelopment
project on the East Side in the public spotlight.

The former Friedrich Air Conditioning Building at 1617 E. Commerce was highlighted during ULI's Spring Council Forum, which was held downtown at the Marriott Rivercenter from April 27-29. Those attending the event included real estate and economic development officials. ULI is a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization that focuses on land management strategies and development issues throughout the country.

The Friedrich was used as an example
of how developers can utilize the New Markets Tax
Credit Program (NMTC), explains Dallas developer
John Miller . Miller, along with local developer
G. Eugene Simor , purchased the 472,000-square-foot
facility in 1999 under the entity of Friedrich Lots
Ltd. The NMTC allows a developer to receive tax
credits by investing in targeted, low-income communities.
Miller and Simor were on hand during the conference
to provide a tour of the project.

That the Friedrich was profiled during the ULI forum stems from a report that the organization did for the city of San Antonio back in November. The city commissioned the report to address development issues in an area just east of downtown known as the St. Paul Gateway District -- which is bordered by Interstate Highway 37 to the west, Montana Street to the south and Monumental Street to the east. The northern boundary of the district runs along Nolan Street , Brown Alley, Dawson Alley and Florence Street .

The Friedrich is highlighted in several portions of the 50-page report -- including recommendations that the redevelopment project receive what the ULI refers to as "timely and appropriate" public financing.

"The ULI sees the Friedrich as a major catalyst for the area," says Miller, who adds that while the Carver Community Cultural Center and the Carver Academy -- which are also included in the study -- have created some activity, a critical mass has not yet been developed within the St. Paul Gateway District. "The Friedrich," says Miller, "would help fill that need."

As for the use of words like "timely and appropriate" in the ULI report, Miller takes that as a message that the city needs to move forward now on this project.

Says Miller: "My interpretation is 'Just do it! Do it now! Create a structure that works for all.' Their comments really confirm the vision and potential (Simor) and I saw when we invested in the development."

To date, about 15,000 square feet out of what Miller describes as "unique loft-style office space" has been finished out and is currently 100 percent occupied to a total of six office tenants. The balance of phase one of the Friedrich calls for another 60,000 square feet of office, 20 residential loft units and 13,000 square feet of special events space that will include a commercial-style catering kitchen.

City participation, however, remains crucial to the project, says Miller, who hopes that the ULI report and its recent conference here could go a ways toward making that collaboration between himself, Simor and the city possible

05/05/05 - San Antonio Current A study says Friedrich Building is key to East Side revival. But will the City act on the recommendations?

The streets are torn up. Houses are crumbling off their foundations. Drug dealers and streetwalkers plumb the depths of a community that has lost its "cultural memory." Buildings stand empty on the other side of a major highway and tracks that lead through an old railroad depot.

This is the near East Side of San Antonio, where city leaders, business owners, and citizens acknowledge a need for reinvestment. But little progress has been made by various factions who want to see one of the city's most blighted neighborhoods return to its former status as a thriving community on the edge of the downtown business district.

Perhaps an answer lies in the latest in a long line of economic development studies. Last week, the Urban Land Institute released a 52-page booklet, titled "St. Paul Gateway District, An Advisory Services Panel Report."

The Urban Land Institute is a non-profit, real-estate think tank with offices in Washington , D.C. and Brussels , Belgium . With revenues of $34 million in 2003, it researches building and land-use issues, and has published case studies on projects including the historic Ford factory in Cincinnati , which was transformed from a deteriorating 1915 landmark into a modern office building.

The City paid $110,000 for the report, including costs related to travel, staff time, and printing. The panelists were not paid; they included J. Kevin Lawler, managing partner of N-K Ventures LC, real estate and financial deal advisers in West Palm Beach, Florida; Lynn Everett-Lee, a land use and transportation program manager for the South Florida Regional Planning Council; and Mtamanika Youngblood, chair of the board of the Historic District Development Corp. of Atlanta, Georgia.

The panel met for five days in San Antonio , touring the East Side and talking to community representatives. They made several short-term and long-term recommendations that if carried out, would make the near East Side once again a lively neighborhood.

The study focused on 227 acres out of 14 square miles, defining the district boundaries as I-37 to the west, Montana Street to the south, Monumental Street to the east, and along Nolan Street , Brown Alley, Dawson Alley, and Florence Street to the north. The plan also recognizes the Commerce Street Corridor as an essential part of any economic redevelopment plan in the St. Paul Gateway. That puts the old Friedrich Building within the eastern edge of the district, and includes the Dignowity Hill Historical District to the north.

The ULI panel concluded that "because of its development patterns, geographic contours, and historic significance, the study area required special attention beyond that envisioned by the City as a more detailed part of the Arena/District/Eastside Community Plan."

The report finds a number of "issues that currently inhibit redevelopment of the study area," including transportation barriers that separate the area from downtown - I-37 and the Union Pacific railroad tracks. It further cites limited streets connecting to downtown, "extensive physical deterioration of existing structures, abandoned or shuttered buildings, and vacant property." There also is "deteriorating housing, inconsistent development patterns, a low grade of city services, a transitioning and transient population, and a diminished cultural memory."

To the advantage of Eugene Simor , one of the original investors in the Friedrich Building , an old warehouse that is undergoing piecemeal renovations into office space, the report recommends that the Friedrich Building be redeveloped with the help of public funds for mixed use, a move that could make it a cornerstone of the St. Paul Gateway District.

"I am all in favor of implementing the recommendations of the report," says Simor. "What I don't want to see happen is what has happened with many studies done on the East Side in 20 years ... with no implementation. I hope to get all parties on board in good faith to implement those recommendations."

Simor acknowledges that burying the highway lanes and removing the railroad tracks would be controversial, but he says the community can "still achieve the promise of the East Side without doing that ... by moving forward with the other recommendations."

Christopher Kimm is an architect who has located his firm, WestEast Design Group LLC, on the first floor of the Friedrich building, overlooking the play yard of Carver Academy .

Kimm disagrees that the highway and railroad tracks should be removed to make the St. Paul Gateway District an extension of downtown. He says the obstacles serve to preserve the integrity of the neighborhood and its potential to be a health-care business sector with the right investment.

Kimm says sustainability is possible by luring high-income residents with political clout, but the next step would be to draw up an architect's overlay on the district to determine specific areas for economic redevelopment.

"There is a particular group of residents who could make this area viable," says Kimm. "But how are we going to get there logically and responsibly for the future of the area; not just today but how to make it sustainable long-term."

02/06/04 San Antonio Business JournalSan Antonio’s East Side: New ideas could create synergy for East Side revival

The near East Side continues to be at the receiving end of a great deal of activity by a dedicated group of local entrepreneurs, developers, investors, politicians and community leaders. In fact, the East Commerce Corridor may well be the next inner city redevelopment success story for San Antonio.
The major challenge lies in the ability to clean up and revitalize the area’s abandoned and economically obsolete industrial and commercial sites.

Several developers are up to that challenge, including local entrepreneur Eugene Simor. He is such a strong believer in the area, in fact, he’s taken on the redevelopment of both the historic Friedrich Building and Merchant Ice and Storage facility. In addition, he has purchased three more vacant lots on the Commerce corridor for future mixed-use projects.
What has he found in the area, along with Sunset Station investors Red McCombs and others? It may lie in a competitive advantage—depressed land values. But beyond the bottom line, these creative visionaries seem to have been able to capture something new—the idea that this neighborhood can be redefined as a viable business market—and that it deserves to be so.

Who would have ever thought five years ago that a trendy Holiday Inn Express would perch at an East Commerce Street corner on the “other side” of Interstate 35. Yet, there it is in all of its glory, popping out of

the ground like a giant jack-in-the-box.
Just down the street, the work Simor is doing at the Friedrich Building may well become a second catalyst for change. His plan calls for a mixed-use residential and commercial complex, consisting of 100 residential spaces and 180,000 square feet of commercial loft space.

05/05/03 Dallas Business JournalZero-commute living attracts new following: Live-work arrangement holds appeal for growing number of individuals

The live-work arrangement, where professionals reside and work under one roof, takes place in suburban homes and apartments across the Metroplex, but it is often frowned upon by city officials especially when more than one employee is involved, according to insiders. In the Deep Ellum and Exposition Park areas, however, the arrangement is encouraged by the city, which allows for the mixed-use developments. Here, professionals are living and working in warehouse-style lofts in buildings that are often primarily commercial.

“We are beginning to see more (live-work situations),” said John Miller, president of developer Urban Village Inc. A fair number of the businesses moving in are in transition, he said, or the owners have decided the size and set-up is perfect for a one-person business.
Urban Village Inc.’s Deep Ellum properties, which include Continental Lofts, Farm and Ranch Lofts and Murray Lofts, are geared toward residential but zoned for commercial use. The studios lease for an average of $1.30 per square foot for units that range from 600 to 2,500 square feet.

A kaleidoscope of arts-related businesses, including photographers, advertising and Internet-based companies, are drawn to the Deep Ellum area for its urban atmosphere. Although most of the businesses using the live-work arrangement tend to be arts-related, some salespeople are also choosing the lifestyle—a sign that the live-work arrangement is also attracting other professionals.
“I am aware of two residences with corporate allowances,” Miller said. “A salesman doesn’t need an office when they are on the road or on the Net.”

The corporations are happy because they do not have to lease more expensive commercial space that will be largely empty when the salesperson is on sales calls or traveling, he said.
Business incubators are also prime candidates for the live-work scenario. “A lot of these people tend to focus on their start-up 24/7 and that is absolutely necessary,” Miller said.

Another advantage for a tenant is that lofts, which have their architectural roots in industrial warehouses, simply give a more professional appearance than a traditional apartment complex, Miller said.
Miller believes the trend of work-live arrangements will continue to grow, especially with professionals who spend more time out in the field than in a cubicle. “The live-work trend is going to continue, thanks to broadband and high-speed Internet,” he said.

12/13/02 San Antonio Business JournalFriedrich building is continuing to garner tenant interest

Developers John Miller and Eugene Simor recently inked a couple of more leases at one of their large-scale redevelopment projects: the former Friedrich Air Conditioning Building at 1617 E. Commerce. Local firms West East Design Group and Lopez Salas Architects became the newest tenants of the East Side building.

“We’re getting there,” says Miller, referring to getting the industrial building cleaned up and leased up. “The first word out of anyone’s mouth when they get here is, ‘Wow’- which means we must be doing a good job.”

And the project could receive some added momentum soon, Miller continues. He and Simor recently applied for a Section 108 Loan with the city of San Antonio. The loan, which is backed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), enables state and local governments to obtain money that can be used for stimulating economic and community revitalization in certain parts of a city.
The Section 108 loan would be used in conjunction with another $1.5 million grant the Simor and Miller received about two years ago from HUD – under the Brownfields Economic Development Initiative – also geared toward distressed properties like the Friedrich. Together, the grant and the loan will be used to finish the infrastructure of the Friedrich, as well as to complete development of phase one of the project – which calls for renovating a total of 85,000 square feet of space in the building for commercial tenants.

“This has been a tougher deal than I imagined,” says Miller of the Friedrich project, “but it’s looking better than I imagined, too. With new tenants like West East and Lopez Salas,” Miller continues, “we know there is a demand (for our project).”
Indeed, the Friedrich was the perfect project for what West East principal Chris Kimm had in mind for his design firm’s new digs. “We fell in love with the big, empty space,” he says. “We knew we could make something out of it.” “It lends itself to some forms and shapes for an industrial look – which is sort of in trend right now,” Kim continues. “We did what we wanted to do – expressed our feelings and desires.”

12/13/99 San Antonio Business JournalUrban Ice Duo Acquires East Side Complex for Telecom Site

John Miller and Eugene Simor, who are busy renovating and leasing the Old Friedrich Building, have purchased another industrial-type behemoth on the East Side of downtown. The partners have scooped up the Merchant’s Cold Storage Co. complex at 1305 E. Houston, under the cool partnership name Urban Ice, with plans to turn part of the facility into a telecom switch center.

The 133,000 square foot complex is made up of five single-story buildings and one four-story building. He says the design of the main 65,000 square-foot, four-story building is ideal for the switching operation. It has very few windows and can support heavy loading capacity to handle the switching equipment. The buildings have tremendous electrical capacity and are adjacent to several sources of fiber.

01/14/00 San Antonio Business Journal
Two high-tech firms plan to call Friedrich Building home

The Old Friedrich Building a high-tech center? Perhaps not yet, but the developers of the adaptive reuse project are in the process of bringing in two new high-tech firms to boost the redevelopment of the former industrial building.

“We work 24-7,” says Jamie Martinez-Gonzalez, president and chief executive officer of Web Head Group. “We wanted a place where maybe that would be the future…If you know anything about the Internet industry, we don’t sleep, so it’s very conducive to move into that atmosphere.” Martinez-Gonzalez says the plans to put a residential component in with the offices at the Friedrich could eventually create that 24-hour live/work environment. Web Head is leasing 2,700 square feet in the building at 1617 E. Commerce for its 11 employees, with plans to add more staff as it expands, she says.

Eugene Simor is redeveloping the Friedrich with John Miller. He is hopeful the new arrivals will bring more high-tech tenants. “These are our core tenants launching what will be one of the best buildings in San Antonio for Internet start-ups and e-commerce business,” Simor Says.

10/29/99 San Antonio Business JournalFormer Friedrich facility gaining a new lease on life

The former Friedrich Air Conditioning building on the city’s East Side is beginning to show signs of life. Developers working on redeveloping the former industrial giant at 1617 E. Commerce have signed about 35,000 square feet of leases in the property.

The tenants include office furniture retailers, a recording studio and a manufacturer. Officesource Ltd., a firm that sells systems furniture, is the first tenant in the building. Beth Milstead, who owns the company with her sister Paula Deering, says the historic nature of the building attracted her. “We thought it would make a good design statement,” says Milstead, who is also restoring her house in the King William district. “We have the design capabilities to see what it could be because that’s what we do as a profession. We like the area and things going on over here. We’re right across the street from the new Carver Academy being built.”

Another furniture-related firm, Hand Crafted Designs, has leased 4,000 square feet in the complex. “It’s the most incredible building I’ve ever seen,” says Carlos de Luna, the firm’s owner. “I’m interested in modern industrial furniture and when I went into the building I said, ‘Oh my God.’ It has all the character I was looking for.”

Earlier this year, the original investor group sold the building to a new partnership made up of Eugene Simor, and John Miller. John Miller is a Dallas developer who has done a number of redevelopment projects in Dallas’ Deep Ellum district.

The long range plans for the complex are for a mixed-use development with at least 100 residential lofts. “It’s the beginning of something incredible,” Simor says. “We’re creating a new community within a community.”

The success of conversions and other residential developments along downtown’s periphery has now prompted developers to go straight to the heart of the city. Within the next 18 months, the number of units renting in the central business district will rise from 180 to 1,098.

Since Dallas developed largely after the invention of the automobile, it has no tradition of urban living as do older cities like New York, Chicago or Boston. However, as the office vacancy rate downtown rose during the 1980s, developers with experience in other parts of the country saw an opportunity for the turn-of-the-century buildings that remained in Dallas’ core.
Together with John Miller Co., Wood’s Pan American Capital developed two loft complexes from cotton gin factories and a third from the erstwhile headquarters of Farm and Ranch and Holland’s magazines.

Shaw’s success north of Woodall Rodgers, and that of Wood and John Miller in Deep Ellum and Bennett Miller in Old City Park, have enabled developers to go straight to the heart of downtown. Within the next two years, at lease six of the central business district’s oldest buildings will open as apartments.
The city’s Intown Housing Program has been aggressive in making loans based on the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Section 108 program, which loans money to cities secured by their Community Development Block Grant funds. These loans have enabled Pan American and Hall Financial Corp., among others, to secure financing above and beyond equity on hand and available from bank loans.

“We provide ‘gap’ financing for projects,” said Cherryl Peterman, director of Dallas’ planning and development department. “We borrow from HUD and loan it to developers. It’s a true lending risk.”
As difficult as the deals may be, they are snapped up both at market and below-market rates. Downtown projects are leasing up to 60% to 90% of capacity within 90 days of opening.

The last cotton train rumbled past 3311 Elm St. sometime in the 1930s, and with its passing, Deep Ellum started a long and seemingly inevitable fall into disrepair and urban decay. Without cotton, the fabric that held the district together disappeared, warehouses and factories crumbled, streets fell into disuse, and about the last thing most mainstream folks wanted to do was live there.

Along for the slide were four industrial buildings that had once been the Continental Cotton Gin Factory. Once it was a heavy-duty, turn-of-the-century manufacturing center with the massive concrete and iron works that let workers assemble huge machines and ship them out. But with no one combating age, the vast iron windows froze shut, thick wooden flooring that would cost millions to duplicate warped, and the monstrous industrial elevators disappeared. By 1995, what was left was essentially a sanctuary for pigeons and their little rat friends.

But no more. Today, the pigeons have been purged, and the interior looks like the skeleton of some new Liberty ship in dry dock, with flimsy metal ribs descending from ceiling to floor, waiting for someone to install wallboard. Contractors flit about with hands full of construction materials and tools, and the place sounds like a battlefield. Walking around the skeleton, visitors can see the outlines of 60 odd lofts beginning to appear.
“We see the Continental as being our flagship,” said Lew Wood, who, along with partner John Miller, is the driving force behind several Downtown-area renovations, including pending work on part of a 1.6 million square foot former Sears Roebuck & Co. warehouse.

09/20/96 Dallas Morning NewsHousing planned at old Sears site: Hotel, offices also included in renovation

Builders and architects are working on plans for what would be Dallas’ largest and most ambitious downtown-area residential development-renovation of the historic Sears, Roebuck and Co. complex on South Lamar Street.
Developer Pan American Capital Corp. has contracted to purchase the 18 acres of red brick buildings from Sears.

Pan American, which is already turning several old warehouse buildings in the east side Deep Ellum district into rental homes, hopes to convert the mammoth Sears complex into a combination of loft apartments, a hotel and office space.
Pan American will begin work early next year to convert a smaller five-story, 60,000 square foot building at Lamar and Belleview streets into loft apartments. “We’ll start with that building, then move on to the larger, nine-story complex,” said Pan American’s John Miller. “We’re also planning to offer an 80,000 square foot building at Lamar and Arnold streets to office tenants.”

All told, the developer hopes to carve the Sears buildings into more than 400 apartments, at least 350 hotel rooms, enclosed parking and office and retail space.
“The DART station is just a block away, and we are across the freeway from the second busiest convention center in the country,“ Mr. Miller said.

Pan American is finishing work on its first loft apartment complex. The developer is turning three former warehouse buildings on Elm, Main and Commerce streets into its 130-unit Deep Ellum Lofts. The builders have purchased two other buildings in the same area that will accommodate 80 more loft homes.

11/27/95 Dallas Morning NewsLofty Aspirations: More apartment dwellers setting sights on buildings in central business district

Since 1993, the city has offered a tax abatement program to encourage residential developers to construct or renovate properties within a mile of the downtown area. Dozen of plans are on the drawing board or have been approved by the city.
“’Without the city, these deals would not be happening,” said John Miller, a partner in Pan American Capital Corp., which is renovating three buildings in Deep Ellum into 133 loft apartments.
Another important impetus has been the massing of restaurants and entertainment areas around the city’s central core, including Deep Ellum, the West End and McKinney Avenue, say city planners.

In the past decade an estimated 500 loft apartments have mushroomed within commercial and industrial buildings in Deep Ellum and nearby Fair Park. Mostly it has been artists and shop owners who were attracted to the convenience of living near their work and, at least initially, to the lower rents.

…. Deep Ellum’s blocks of commercial structures began to decline. Today, real estate investors are bringing new activity to the area by converting these one-time warehouses into trendy loft apartments and retail shops. Developer Pan American Capital Corp. is tackling what will be the biggest such project to date – a $10 million conversion of three 70-year-old buildings into 150 apartments.
The developers are targeting the project at middle and upper income renters who want to live in one of the city’s most popular restaurant and nightclub districts.
Monthly rents will start at less than $500 for the smallest unit and run to more than $2,100 for the biggest.
“These old buildings were constructed for manufacturing, so they are very sound. You can do almost anything to them.” (Graham Greene, project architect)

Developers hoping to receive public-sector funding for inner-city housing construction have submitted proposals for eight Dallas projects.
In November, council members instructed the city staff to use $25 million in federal loan program funds for developers who want to provide new housing units in the Central Business District and within a mile of downtown.
Developer Pan American Capital Corp. hopes to convert the former Murray Co. building at 3300 Main St. into about two dozen apartments.